---
title: ORDER BY clause
description: Use the ORDER BY clause to sort data by time in ascending or descending order.
url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/core/reference/influxql/order-by/
estimated_tokens: 2223
product: InfluxDB 3 Core
version: core
---

# ORDER BY clause

Use the `ORDER BY` clause to sort data by time in ascending or descending order. InfluxQL only supports sorting data by `time`.

-   [Syntax](#syntax)
-   [Examples](#examples)

## Syntax

```sql
SELECT_clause FROM_clause [WHERE_clause] [GROUP_BY_clause] ORDER BY time [ASC|DESC]
```

-   If the the `ORDER BY` clause is not included, the default behavior is to sort data by time in **ascending** order: `ORDER BY time ASC`.
-   If the query includes [`WHERE`](/influxdb3/core/reference/influxql/where/) and [`GROUP BY`](/influxdb3/core/reference/influxql/group-by/) clauses, the `ORDER BY` clause must come **after** these clauses.

#### Sort orders

-   **ASC (ascending)**: The first row in the results has the oldest timestamp. The last row in the results has the most recent timestamp.
-   **DESC (descending)**: The first row in the results has the most recent timestamp. The last row in the results has the oldest timestamp.

## Examples

The following examples use the [Home sensor sample data](/influxdb3/core/reference/sample-data/#home-sensor-data).

[](#sort-data-with-the-oldest-points-first)

Sort data with the oldest points first

Ordering data by time in ascending order is the default behavior. Including `ORDER BY time ASC` in the query isn’t necessary, but it is supported.

```sql
SELECT *
FROM home
WHERE
  room = 'Kitchen'
  AND time >= '2022-01-01T08:00:00Z'
  AND time <= '2022-01-01T12:00:00Z'
ORDER BY time ASC
```

Name: home

| time | co | hum | room | temp |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2022-01-01T08:00:00Z | 0 | 35.9 | Kitchen | 21 |
| 2022-01-01T09:00:00Z | 0 | 36.2 | Kitchen | 23 |
| 2022-01-01T10:00:00Z | 0 | 36.1 | Kitchen | 22.7 |
| 2022-01-01T11:00:00Z | 0 | 36 | Kitchen | 22.4 |
| 2022-01-01T12:00:00Z | 0 | 36 | Kitchen | 22.5 |

[](#sort-data-with-the-newest-points-first)

Sort data with the newest points first

```sql
SELECT *
FROM home
WHERE
  room = 'Kitchen'
  AND time >= '2022-01-01T08:00:00Z'
  AND time <= '2022-01-01T12:00:00Z'
ORDER BY time DESC
```

| time | co | hum | room | temp |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2022-01-01T12:00:00Z | 0 | 36 | Kitchen | 22.5 |
| 2022-01-01T11:00:00Z | 0 | 36 | Kitchen | 22.4 |
| 2022-01-01T10:00:00Z | 0 | 36.1 | Kitchen | 22.7 |
| 2022-01-01T09:00:00Z | 0 | 36.2 | Kitchen | 23 |
| 2022-01-01T08:00:00Z | 0 | 35.9 | Kitchen | 21 |